APPLICATION GUIDE Wicked Colours

Wicked Colours are intended for both interior and exterior applications and do not require heat for final curing except on textile.

CONDITIONS: 
20º C or higher in a dry, dust-free environment. When painting in humid or colder conditions, allow for extended drying time. Use of air flow decreases drying time and is recommended as the primary means to dry paint. Air source should be free of contaminates, especially oil and water. Heat is best used to cure paint after paint dries. Refer to curing section for more. Please observe the information about Wicked UV-Glow at the bottom of this guide!

SET-UP:
Spray Gun Tip Size: Operate @ 2.75 bar 1.2mm: Touch-Up Gun: 0.8mm – 1.0mm tip-size. Pressure settings may vary. Adjust fluid-adjustment knob for optimum atomization.
Airbrush Tip Size: 0.5mm: @ 2.75 – 3.5 bar; 0.35mm and smaller operate at lower settings and reduce paint to desired viscosity best to atomize particular colour with particular airbrush type and tip size. Reduced paint generally has viscosity of milk.
Reducing: Wicked W100 Reducer in various ratios to achieve desired viscosity. Reduced colours are best used 24 hours after mixing. Reducers greatly improve flow and decrease tip-dry. Reducing with water is not recommended as performance benefits are not achieved and tip-dry is increased.

PREPARATION:
Proper preparation is crucial to ensuring a successful paintjob. Prepare surface using a variety of methods including but not limited to cleaning, sanding or scuffing and applying a primer. This is an important part of any paintjob; there is no short-cut.

Non-Porous Surfaces: Clean thoroughly using both soap & water and solvent-based degreasers to remove all contaminants and oils. Scuff using 600 – 800 grit sandpaper or a scuff-pad an equivalent coarseness. Clean again after scuffing prior to paint. Best to start with White & Black for an  initial coat with an even, uniform value over which other colours will improve coverage and show a brighter value.
Porous Surfaces & Fabrics: Best to paint onto clean fabric. A few very light coats of W200 Transparent Base locks down lint or knap preventing interference and contamination when airbrushing. Over black and dark fabrics, applying a base of W030 Opaque White before applying colours with lighter hues improves coverage and creates brighter values. Stretching fabric or t-shirt over a board creates a flat, wrinkle-free surface which is much easier to paint on. For t- shirts, clamp down sleeves and loose ends.
Plastic: Adhesion to plastics varies. With softer plastics, adhesion is possible after cleaning and lightly scuffing. With harder or oily plastics such as styrene and ABS, an adhesion promoter should be applied after cleaning & scuffing and before painting.

APPLICATION: 
Apply in light coats. A coating consisting of multiple, light layers is much stronger than a coating of the same mil thickness which is achieved in fewer, thicker layers. Chipping and flaking of paint is most often due to excess build-up of paint. Allow colours to air cure between coats and before curing with heat (see curing section for more). Working in light coats is especially important when painting flexible surfaces such as leather and vinyl.

CURING:
Wicked Colours cure best when paint is thoroughly dried prior to application of heat. Curing times are decreased when coats are allowed to air cure prior to application of next coat. Use of Wicked W100 Reducer decreases drying rates and curing times.
Do not heat cure fresh paint before it air cures for a few minutes. Premature application of heat may skin-over paint creating a latex film which peels easily when taped and otherwise lacks proper adhesion. Wicked Colours will air dry to a durable film without heat curing although use of heat does achieve optimum film strength.

Heat Gun: apply heat at a low to mid-temperature setting no more than 150°C. Keep air moving to avoid blistering. Apply heat until paint is warm to the touch.

Shirt Press: 160°C for 15 –20 seconds.

Iron: With a protective cloth over paint, set on high/cotton setting and iron for @ 2 minutes. A shirt press or iron is recommended for curing t-shirt artwork intended for washing.

CLEANING:
After curing or thorough air drying, paint may be cleaned with odorless mineral spirits or a solvent-based, post-sanding degreaser. Do not clean with water. Clean airbrush during use with water or CREATEX Airbrush Cleaner. Clean airbrush after use by soaking in CREATEX Airbrush Restorer followed by brushing off partially-dissolved paint and rinsing with water.

SAFETY:
Always spray in a well-ventilated area with access to fresh air. An approved respirator is recommended. See Material Safety Data Sheets for complete safety and handling information.

COLOURS:
Wicked Colours is an ultra-high performance, multi-surface airbrush paint suitable for any substrate from fabric to automotive applications. Wicked Colours are perfect for t-shirts, automotive graphics, illustration and most any application. Wicked contains mild amounts of solvent inter-mixed with a durable, exterior-grade resin and automotive pigments for an extremely durable paint that withstands direct, prolonged exposure to outdoors elements without washing or fading.

Wicked Colours have exceptional flow and atomization right out of the bottle with most airbrush tip-sizes, including 0.35mm tips. Wicked Colours may be reduced with W100 Reducer in any ratio for improved flow, atomization and customizing viscosity preferences. All Wicked Colours are made with the same highly durable binder. Wicked Colours are sheered to a binder size of 0.5 microns and dry to a semi-gloss level of 70+ degrees.

For automotive refinishing, a durable, catalyzed urethane clear is recommended. Wicked Colours cure to a strong film with air drying alone. Heat may be used to further assist curing and is recommended for t-shirts and fabrics intended for use with multiple washings. Heat is not required for automotive, illustration and most other applications.

All Wicked Colours except fluorescent colours have an exceptional lightfast pigmentation, 7 or 8 BWS (Blue wool Scale) except for yellow and orange colors which are 5 or 6 BWS. All these lightfast  data are at 100% saturation. Tints and over-reduced transparent mixes will be less. Any colour 5 or higher on a BWS scale is suitable for automotive refinishing and has archival quality. Fluorescent colours are @ a 2 or 3 on a BWS scale.

ADDITIVES:
Wicked W100 Reducer: High performance reducer with solvent for use with all Createx paints; dramatically improves flow and reduces tip-dry. Reduce in any ratio.
Wicked W200 Transparent Base: Clear binder for extending colours, increasing transparency, use as a protective inter- coating to lock down fabric knap before painting.
Airbrush Restorer: Cleansing bath for airbrush after use which dissolves dried paint.

Wicked UV Glow W 210 & W 211
Wicked UV-Glow is effecitve under black (UV) light only and is only visible as long as the UV light is switched on. Wicked UV Glow Base W210 is intermixable with any of the wicked colours..
Wicked UV-Glow White W211 does contain the UV-Glow Base additive already, however it does glow under UV-Light only. Under normal conditions it is just white.
Attention: do not clean Glow Base painted objects with silicone cleaner as it would etch the surface.